Curse Client - Still Virus Prone?

Post by pezz

I quit about halfway through Cata but I've been bored lately so I'm coming back.

I recall the Curse Client had a reputation for having the occasional virus scare, but I'm also too lazy to manage my own add-ons and too bad at WoW to play without them. Do y'all consider the Curse Client safe to use?

Post by ProphetManX

I'm currently using it. Functionality wise it is pretty awesome. I've not had any trouble with viruses and such for a long time, but is that because I'm careful (using avast!) or because I'm lucky?

You decide...

Post by pezz

Avast represent!

I never had any problems with it personally, otherwise I'd be staying way the hell away from it, but I remember it having that reputation and now, frankly, I'm playing WoW on a more expensive computer than I used to.

Post by pelf

I've used it since it came out. I've never had any problems with it at all.

Post by Myrroddin

I've used it since it came out. I've never had any problems with it at all.Same here. The old v3 client, a few years ago, did have a viral attack, but nothing with v4 or the current v5. Occasionally there are hacks in the ads displayed, but Curse does not host or control those ads, other than the ability to take them out of rotation.

Ads are hosted and served by whatever companies pay for the advertisements, and are pushed to multiple sites, not just Curse. That means if the same bad ad is on somecoolsite.com and curse.com, both will get hit; it isn't a "Curse" thing.

I suggest a decent antivirus and malware scanner. I am using Microsoft's Security Essentials, which is free and has no conflicts with any program I use. I also have MalwareByte's installed just in case. Further, keep Adobe Flash updated regularly, do your Windows updates (all of them, not just the "critical" ones), and for the love of the Light, use the Blizzard Authenticator. Trion has one for Rift as well.

The ads displayed in the Curse Client become a moot issue if you subscribe to their Premium service because there are no ads, but the client is functional in basic mode.

Post by TheReal

Post by pelf

I've actually paid for premium since the Premium free period ended.

Post by pezz

I've used it since it came out. I've never had any problems with it at all.

FWIW, this. I get free Premium for authoring add-ons though, so the lack of ads may have something to do with my lack of troubles.

Generally I'm smart enough not to buy the penis enlargement pills. I think I'll be alright.

Thanks y'all!

Post by TheReal

Post by pezz

If suspicious-as-hell looking ads are a potential security problem with the software, I'll just not click them.

Sorry I just went to the most common 'virus prone add' trope.

Post by pelf

As long as you trope with the troupe or the troop, you won't trip.

Post by drpimento

I had used the free curse client without clicking on ads. Ran into so some major problems. GM Asmoranom on 16 Dec 14 said "Curse Client has a nasty track record of causing issues for our players following a major patch". I'm now using the recommended ZAM Minion, which is in Beta, but seems to work fairly well. I use Kaspersky PURE 3.0 which has kept me clean until using curse when I got my search hijacked with some sort of malware that won't uninstall, has disabled IE, messed up my email apps, etc ad nauseum.

Post by Myrroddin

Blizzard GMs and CMs always say Minion, Curse Client, TukUI Client, etc "cause issues" because none of these programs are made by Blizzard. They are respective IPs of their sites, and Blizzard has little or no say in what goes into an AddOn updating client. That said, all three have been scanned by multiple anti-malware and anti-virus companies hundreds, even thousands of times, and haven't had a true hit. There has been the occasional false positive, but those get resolved quickly.
Curse Inc and ZAM LLC (Wowhead) are both registered Official Blizzard Fan Sites. Nothing they host, nor any program or AddOn they write will jeopardize that status because that would be extraordinarily bad for business.
Major patches to the game have absolutely zero impact on AddOn updaters whatsoever. That's like saying your car won't start because your microwave isn't working. They have nothing to do with each other.
If you mean that hosted AddOns may cause issues when Blizzard releases a content patch or expansion, well duh! Blizzard always changes and updates their programming API, which in turn could (and frequently does) dramatically effect or sometimes even kill AddOns. But AddOns are not the same thing as AddOn updaters.
Curse.com nor the Curse Client hijacked your search with malware. Don't be silly. If your search was hijacked via malware, it is possible (see my post from two years ago above) a bad ad did the deed, but Curse has no interest, nor enough lawyers to cover they asses, to do such a thing.
I've heard Kapersky is a decent AV, but I've never used it.

Curse Client - Still Virus Prone?

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